N K Minda, Chairman & MD, Uno Minda emphasised on creating local design capabilities and to focus on developing research and development centers for the automotive space to integrate the techologies right at the component level. New Delhi: The ETAuto Tech Summit 2019 on Thursday commenced with delegates from leading auto companies across the globe participating in the event and discussing on opportunities and challenges that have arised in the areas of automotive designing and testing with the advent of technologies such as electric, connected and autonomous mobility .

The event started with insights on technological advancements happening across the value chain of Indian automobile industry.

In the welcome speech, Nabeel A Khan, Editor ETAuto said, "With the rapid advances in e-mobility, autonomous driving, Connected cars, and automotive electronics, the capabilities we marvel at today may seem basic in just a few years. The business segment is expected to be of over $400 billion in the next five years. As a result, auto testing equipment companies need to provide solutions that enable transmitter/receiver tests and various measurements, including noise figure, phase noise, modulation analysis, and electromagnetic interference (EMI)."

He further said that pertinent positioning and localisation technologies are now key in the connected car, and they must be tested to ensure compliance with international standards.

Emphasing on creating local design capabilities N K Minda, Chairman & MD, Uno Minda said that it is high time to focus on developing research and development centers for the automotive space in order to integrate the technologies right at the component level.

"Currently, India lacks the ecosystem of automotive design. The focus on building local R&D centres coupled with low cost engineering manpower will help in creating a culture of innovation in the Indian auto component space. The creation of local R&D centers will not only help in simplifying the vehicle designing process but will cut down the imports of crucial components from countries like Korea and China," Minda said.

He also urged the government to support the domestic manufacturing of electronic components by incentivising the local companies and formulating business-friendly policies. "We need a different policy and incentive scheme to encourage global electronic component players to set up facilities in here. The journey of Design in India, which is the next logical phase of Make in India will only be able sustain with proper hand holding from the government," he added.

ETAuto Tech Summit 2019 is aimed at encouraging and digging deep into new possibilities and options of mobility in a digitised and automated industry 4.0 era. In the two-day event, industry stalwarts will discuss efficient design and smart manufacturing methods & roll out of products in the market with greater speeds. #ETATS2019 will also cover digital transformation in manufacturing and shop-floor innovation.

In fact, segment leaders like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp have reported de-growth of 34.3 per cent, 45 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively giving a clear indication of a prolonged slowdown in the sector.